link Shez
...
link Ashe volume_up
Oh, it's you. What are you doing?
link Shez volume_up
Hey, Ashe. Not much, just perusing this tactics book. Have you read it before?
link Ashe volume_up
I sure have. It was popular in Leicester a few years back, if I remember right.
link Ashe volume_up
I picked it up myself back at the monastery, but it was so dense it took me ages to finish.
link Shez volume_up
It's a pretty tough one, I'll give you that. But there's some great stuff in here too, if you can get past the writing.
link Ashe volume_up
Hold on. You were born in a remote mountain village in Ordelia territory, right?
link Shez volume_up
Uh, yeah? What's your point?
link Ashe volume_up
I guess I'm just impressed you can handle such an obtuse book, given your upbringing.
link Ashe volume_up
I mean, nobles and the children of rich families are taught to read by default, but most commoners never get the opportunity.
link Ashe volume_up
Honestly, I've been wondering who taught you ever since our time at the academy. I...hope I didn't offend you. I'm just curious.
link Shez volume_up
Nah, it's fine. I learned from my mom. Adoptive mom, that is.
link Shez volume_up
Looking back on it now, it is kinda weird that someone as smart as her was off living in the middle of nowhere like that.
link Ashe volume_up
Hm. I'm sure she must've had a reason for being there.
link Shez volume_up
Hard to say. She never liked talking about her past, so I don't know much beyond what I saw for myself.
link Ashe volume_up
At the very least, it's obvious she was well educated. That's clear just from looking at you.
link Ashe volume_up
Not only can you read and write, but you know arithmetic and how to navigate with a map, too.
link Ashe volume_up
In that sense, you're not so different from the average noble or knight raised in the lap of luxury.
link Shez volume_up
You really think? Yeesh, you're gonna make a guy blush.
link Shez volume_up
I only have my mom to thank for raising me so well, though.
link Ashe volume_up
Yeah. She must have been an incredible woman.
link Shez volume_up
Really? I don't think it's that big a deal, personally.
link Ashe volume_up
Oh, but it is! Not many commoners are literate and educated like you are.
link Ashe volume_up
They don't need any of that stuff to make a living, so it's not really viewed as a necessary skill.
link Ashe volume_up
You know, I didn't know how to read myself until I met Lonato.
link Shez volume_up
Huh. Now that you mention it, I never really saw the other mercs in my company with a book in their hands. Except for the captain, of course.
link Shez volume_up
Makes me wonder where my mom learned all that.
link Shez volume_up
But it's not like I can ask her now. She's gone.
link Ashe volume_up
Oh...